She watched as the multicoloured balloons – some poor kid must have lost it – disappeared into the sky. She watched as it grew smaller and smaller. Those balloons represented the way she felt right at the moment, alone and floating aimlessly without a destination.

She walked over to a set of swings in the park and sat down upon it. She dragged her feet back and forth on the ground; the swing swung back and forth, the dirt marking her brand new pair of shoes. She allowed the movement to numb her mind and blocked out the world around her. Her eyes focused on the ground.

She had chosen a path that was fragile and filled with imperfection, but this was the price that came with achieving her dream.

There were times when she fell apart, broke down by the façade of the entertainment industry. She wondered what type of life she would be living now if she took a different path, but the choice had been made and she tried not to dwell on the shadow of the past.

When she looked back up from the ground she noticed that the sky had turned dark. The street lights had came on and in the distance she could see the headlights of multiple vehicles on the road. In this city you can rarely see stars, but on a clear night you could make out the small glimmers in the sky. However, tonight there was nothing. It was a starless night, a night tainted by the artificial lights of the large city.

Once in a while she felt like this, depressed and she would escape here to clear her head, to purge all the terrible feeling that had built up with her. She felt the warm tears trickled down her face. Tears was a good source of purging, detoxifying her, allowing her to let go of her problems.

She always came here alone. Sometimes it made it worse, being alone while feeling lonely, but then he came into her life. He became an anchor for her, an anchor that would keep the balloon from floating away aimlessly.

He wasn’t here now thought. He was finishing off his schedule, so here she was again sitting alone by herself.  She berated herself in her mind for being so fragile, for wanting him all for herself when she knew that she could never have it.

She lifted her hand to wipe away her tears, but before she could do so a large warm hand took hold hers. She looked up and met with his worried gaze. He entwined his fingers with hers, sat back on his heels, right in front of her, so his eyes were at the same level with hers.

“Here you are,” he grasped her other hand, entwined his fingers with it and brought her hands together, encased between his warm hands. He brought her hands closer to his lips and blew warm air onto it to warm it up. “I just got back from my schedule. How long were you out here for?”

She shook her head, “I’m not sure.”

He stood up and pulled her up out of swing onto her feet, “Let’s go home. I’ll make you something warm.” He let go of one of her hand, but still held on tight to the other one.

She grasped his hand tighter and he gently did the same, reassuring her that he would never let go of her.

“You should have went straight back to the dorm to rest you know,” she said, admiring his side profile. This young man had grown so much over a year. From the moment she accepted his confession, a year ago, until now he became more mature. From a boy that she used to think was adorable to a young man that had captured her heart.

He turned to look at her, a smile on his face, “I know, but I wanted to see my favourite noona.”

Seeing the smile on his tired face lifted the angst she had felt earlier. She smiled back at him, “How was your day, Sehunnie?”

The one corner of his lips lifted up to form a smirk, “Being my cheeky self as usual. The manager wanted to kill me apparently. That’s want Junmyeon-hyung said anyway.”

That caused her to let out a small chuckle.

“What happened today?” and just like that the smile vanished from his face and from a mischievous young man he turned into a serious and mature one.

She sighed, “Reading things I shouldn’t read, hearing things I just don’t want to hear and my composition being turn down by the company again.”

He stopped and pulled her into his embrace with his free hand. He never let go of the other hand that he held gently, but tightly. Her eyes widen in shock, but then she relaxed and revelled in the moment. He just knew exactly what had to be done to make her feels better.

“One day the world will realize your potentials, your talents and then they will have egg on their face for acting this way toward you, mainly our company.”

His comment made her smile, “You know, Sehun, on this dark starless night you are the only shining star I ever need.”

He kissed her on the forehead, “No, Amber, you’re my shining star.”

She closed her eyes and prayed that he would never let go of her hand, never let go of her, for she needed him to be an anchor to this fragile and imperfect life of hers.